.png)
Our Initiative
Many of us have left over unexpired medicines lying around at home. Despite our best intentions to pass them on to someone who can ill afford them, we are unaware of how to go about it. We invariably retain them until their expiry date and dispose of them later.
Such expired medicines from homes end up in landfills or are burnt. Moreover, the chemicals in these medicines that leak into the soil and water are often consumed by us. This is ironic, as the medicines that are supposed to cure illnesses, not only end up causing them, but also create antibiotic resistance and pollute the environment due to their improper disposal. It is unconscionable that a countless number of medicines are needlessly wasted, when there are millions in desperate need of them. This goes to show how there are enough medicines but lack of mechanisms to distribute them to those in need.
In order to bridge this gap, Sanjana Nevatia & Krrish Somani, both students of The Cathedral & John Connon School, came up with the idea of MEDgive and have been organising Drives to collect Unused & Unexpired Medicines lying around at home.
School
We started our initiative by conducting the first drive at our school – The Cathedral and John Connon School. The drive was well received and encouraged us to take the initiative forward by targeting other communities.
Residential Buildings
We decided to further build on our initiative by conducting drives in several residential buildings in Mumbai.
Sports Clubs
We facilitated the organisation of the Medicine Collection Drives in 2 leading Sports Clubs of Mumbai - The Willingdon Sports Club & The National Sports Club of Mumbai.
Total Collection
Across the 3 segments we collected a total of
-
70 pounds of Unused and Unexpired medicines (approximately 5000 strips of medicines) and
-
30 pounds of Expired medicines.
Distribution of the Unused and Unexpired Medicines Collected
The unused and unexpired medicines collected by us through the various drives were sent to A. K. Munshi Yojana and Meds For More to channelize distribution of the medicines to the underprivileged through qualified healthcare professionals.
Responsible Disposal of Expired Medicines Collected
At the end of each drive, we realised that in addition to unexpired medicines, people had also donated their expired medicines.
While households invariably dispose of medicines in the garbage or flush them down the toilet, we were aware that this would carry a risk of soil and water contamination.
In order to dispose of the expired medicines responsibly, we contacted the biomedical waste treatment company appointed by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai which is being used by hospitals, clinics, etc. to dispose of waste. They agreed to assist us in disposing of the expired medicines that had inadvertently come our way.
Our Team
Sanjana Nevatia
Co-founder
Sanjana is a Grade 12 student at The Cathedral & John Connon School in the IBDP curriculum where she studies Chemistry, Mathematics, Economics amongst other subjects.
Having faced a prolonged gut issue, she was left with a hoard of unused and unexpired medicines that were of no use to her.
Enthusiastic about reusing & recycling and compassionate towards the underprivileged, Sanjana thought of the initiative of MEDgive.
Krrish Somani
Co-founder
Krrish is a Grade 12 student at The Cathedral & John Connon School in the IBDP curriculum where he studies Global Politics, Economics, Computer Science amongst other subjects.
Coming from a Pharma background he understood the bio-medical wastage of unused and unexpired medicines.
He also knew how many people could not afford the medicines they needed. This is where the idea of collecting unused and unexpired medicines and getting them to the right people was born with MEDGive – A way to get medicines through clinics and other sources to those in need.
Drives Conducted
Our Unexpired & Unused Medicine Collection Initiative targeted 3 segments
Meds For More is a robin hood-style initiative founded during the Covid 19 pandemic, to provide unused and unexpired medicines, free of cost to the less privileged. Overtime, they expanded their platform to include non Covid - 19 medicines as well. Through this initiative, they have helped numerous needy patients.
Our Partners
A. K. Munshi Yojana is a Mumbai based Voluntary Welfare Organisation (NGO) celebrating its 65th Year of service to the society for the welfare of the weaker section & under privileged. It runs multidisciplinary Medical Centres, under the care of excellent doctors, offering medical services at a very subsidized rate or even free of charge.
Contact us
Certificate
